THE  SLAVE  QUESTION 


/ 

SPEECH 

\ 

OF 

HON.  GRAHAM  N.  FITCH,  OF  INDIANA, 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES,  FEBRUARY  14,  1850, 

In  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union ,  on  the  Resolution  referring  the 
President' s  Message  to  the  various  Standing  Committees. 


Mr.  FITCH  said: 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  attempt  an  elaborate 
answer  to  any  of  the  various  arguments  which 
have  been  adduced,  either  to  the  House  or  this 
committee,  upon  the  subjects  connected  with  the 
message  before  you.  Nor  do  I  design  discussing 
at  length  the  slavery  question,  which  has  become 
interwoven  with  all  our  legislation.  I  shall  leave 
such  discussion  to  the  legal  gentlemen  occupying 
seats  here.  1  believe,  however,  that  an  unbiased 
judgment  of  either  the  merit  or  constitutionality 
of  that  question  can  scarcely  be  formed  here.  Sec¬ 
tional  feeling,  under  the  influence  of  the  inflam¬ 
matory  appeals  and  injudicious  threats  which  have 
been  made  in  connection  with  this  subject,  will 
deprive  it  of  that  cool  consideration  to  which  its 
importance  entitles  it.  Any  opinion  relative  to  its 
merit  must,  in  an  especial  manner,  have  been 
very  liable  to  be  formed  under  the  influence  of  such 
feeling;  and  any  in  relation  to  its  constitutional¬ 
ity, even  from  those  whoseopinionsunder  ordinary 
circumstances  are  entitled  to  the  utmost  deference, 
(and  there  are  many  such  on  this  floor,)  will  now 
be  very  sure  to  be  warped  by  residence  upon  one 
or  the  other  side  of  a  certain  line;  or  influences,  in¬ 
dependent  of  considerations  of  the  country ’s  good , 
of  right  or  wrong,  brought  to  bear  from  the  op¬ 
posite  side,  and  therefore  deprived  of  any  con¬ 
trolling  effect.  Any  reasons  for  my  own  opinion 
can  have  no  weight — be  of  no  influence  beyond 
the  circle  of  my  immediate  constituents.  Those 
reasons  can  be — aye,  have  been  better  gktn  else¬ 
where  than  here.  The  opinion  itself,  so  far  as 
my  action  on  this  question  as  a  representative  is 
concerned,  1  came  here  to  carry  out.  It  will  be  a 
matter  of  record — it  already  is  so;  and  I  am  pre¬ 
pared  to  make  it  so  again  at  any  moment.  Al¬ 
though  a  discussion  of  the  rationale. of  a  precon¬ 
ceived  opinion  will  be  useless,  that  of  certain 
sentiments  proclaimed,  acts  done,  and  threats  made 
here  and  elsewhere,  in  connection  with  this  sub¬ 
ject,  may  not  be  equally  so.  To  these,  therefore, 
will  my  remarks  be  mostly  confined. 

It  appears  to  my  limited  observation,  that  a 
new-born  zeal  is  recently  evinced  in  opposition  to 
a  principle  long  since  established  in  this  Govern¬ 
ment,  and  established  with  the  consent  of  the 
very  locality  now  so  frenzied  in  its  opposition. 
The  “  ordinance  of  1787”  was  but  the  appli¬ 
cation  of  this  principle  to  the  Northwestern 
Territory,  and  under  circumstances  which  would 
have  far  better  justified  the  intemperate  opposition 
now  manifested.  As  that  territory  belonged  to  ! 


Virginia,  slavery  existed  in  it  by  her  laws,  not 
only  theoretically  but  practically.  Slaves  were 
held  in  that  portion  of  it  out  of  which  my  own 
State  has  since  been  created.  Consequently,  that 
ordinance  abolished  slavery  without  the  consent  of 
the  inhabit-ants,  where  it  already  existed.  It  is  now 
only  proposed  to  prevent  its  introduction  where 
it  does  not  exist.  To  the  former  proposition 
there  was  no  opposition;  to  this  it  has  become 
almost  monomaniac.  That  territory  was  a  gift  in 
common  to  all  the  States — it  became  common 
property;  and  very  justly,  for  Virginia  had  only 
been  enabled  to  hold  it  by  an  expenditure  of  the 
common  blood  and  treasure.  The  same  expend- 
ituie  has  obtained  that  in  dispute;  not  in  dispute 
as  to  title,  but  as  to  the  extension  or  non-exten¬ 
sion  of  certain  laws  over  it.  Virginia  could  no 
more  claim  a  want  of  consideration  for  her  gift 
than  could  Texas  now  were  she  to  relinquish  to 
the  United  States  all  her  ri«:ht,  real  or  fancied, 
to  that  portion  of  New  Mexico  which  she 
claims.  I  repeat,  the  principle  under  discus¬ 
sion,  the  principle  of  “intervention”  with  th'e 
slavery  question  in  the  territories,  was  established 
by  the  “  ordinance  of  1787,”  and  in  a  form  much 
more  obnoxious  to  objections  on  the  part  of  the 
South  than  any  now  presented.  But  then  it  met 
their  approbation.  No  master-spirithad  yet  arisen 
to  create  from  this  question  a  whirlwind,  astride 
of  which  himself  and  friends  were  to  ride  into 
histh  places.  There  is,  then,  in  that  ordinance  a 
precedent  for  this  intervention  which  cannot  be 
gainsayed.  But  we  are  told  that  we,  the  Demo¬ 
cratic  party,  have  adopted  a  party  creed,  erected 
a  party  platform  upon  which  is  written  “Non¬ 
intervention;”  and  honorable  gentlemen  from  the 
South  have  threatened  with  excommunication 
from  the  party  all  who  do  not  abide  the  spirit  of 
that  non-intervention.  Yes,  they  will  “  read  such 
from  the  party.”  Who  then  would  be  orthodox 
Democrats?  I  fancy  this  question  would  not  be 
as  difficult  of  solution  ns  a  similar  .one  arising 
from  Church  schisms.  If  numbers  constitute  or¬ 
thodoxy,  gentlemen  fulminating  such  threats 
might  find*  themselves  outside  the  temple.  The 
non-intervention  doctrine  of  the  Democratic  Na¬ 
tional  Convention  of  1S48,  was  applied  to  States, 
not  Territories.  The  convention  expressly  re¬ 
fused  the  adoption  of  a  similar  resolution  relative 
to  the  latter,  and  that  refusal  was  the  alleged  cause 
of  secession  from  the  convention  by  the  ultra  mover 
of  the  resolution.  But  if  the  same  resolution  W] 
been  applied  to  the  latter,  I  submit  to  you,  Mr. 


2 


Chairman,  would  not  denunciation  by  the  South  of 
its  abandonment  be  but  condemnation  of  their  own 
course?  For,  sir,  in  anticipation  of  the  anp!ica- 
tion  of  a  portion  of  the  new  territory  (California) 
for  admission,  with  constitution  in  hand,  into  the 
Union,  these  same  people,  who  would  create  an 
ideal  non-intervention  rule  and  make  it  binding 
upon  the  North,  have  themselves  declared,  from 
the  swamps  of  Florida  to  the  mountains  of  Vir¬ 
ginia,  their  intention  to  resist  the  asked-for  ad¬ 
mission.  And  why?  Because,  forsooth,  the  con¬ 
stitution  of  the  new  State  prohibits  slavery!  It 
is  true  the  gentleman  from  Mississippi  [Mr. 
Brown]  told  us  a  few  days  since  that  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  this  prohibition  formed  not  the  ground  of 
his  opposition  to  the  admission  of  California; 
but  if  its  constitution  had  permitted  slavery,  is  it 
to  be  supposed  for  one  moment  the  South  would 
have  opposed  its  admission  into  the  Union  ?  The 
supposition  is  preposterous. 

Well,  Mr.  Chairman,  will  not  this  resistance  to 
the  admission  of  California  bean  attempted  inter¬ 
vention?  Yet  for  the  same  intervention,  for  a 
different,  and ,  as  we  claim,  a  better  purpose,  the 
North  is  to  be  anathematized.  “  Whom  the  gods 
will  to  destroy,  they  first  make  made.”  If  mad¬ 
ness  is  evidence  of  impending  destruction,  we  may 
well  fear  that  many  seats  in  this  House  must 
soon  bid  farewell  to  their  present  occupants,  to 
“  know  them  no  more  forever;’’  for  a  greater  num¬ 
ber  of  candidates  for  Bedlam  than  presented  them¬ 
selves  upon  this  floor,  a  few  days  before  we  filled  the 
Chair  you  now  occupy,  never  congregated  outside 
the  walls  of  an  asylum  for  the  insane.  And  there 
was  very  little  method  in  their  madness.  Their 
ravings  were  incoherent, — or  if  they  could  be  in¬ 
terpreted  to  mean  anything,  they  meant  that  at 
which  the  remarks  made  by  a  gentleman  from 
North  Carolina  [Mr.  Clingman]  so  strongly 
pointed — namely,  disunion.  And  some  of  them 
appear  to  have  been  at  large  a  length  of  time,  un¬ 
restrained  by  the  application  of  any  coercive  meas¬ 
ure,  although  evidencing  well-grounded  suspicions 
of  the  necessity  of  such  restraint, — aye,  and  com¬ 
mitting  that  evidence  to  print,  to  be  brought  up  in 
judgment  against  them.  Here  is  a  portion  of  this 
evidence,  (holding  up  Mr.  Meade’s  speech,)  in 
which  the  author,  speaking  of  anticipated  legisla¬ 
tion  on  this  subject,  says: 

C£  [f  the  North  generally,  whose  high  prosperity  is  the  result 
of  unrestricted  intercourse  with  the  South,  refuse  the  terms 
we  prescribe,  let  us  talk  no  more  about  the  blessings  of 
Union.  ” 

If  we  do  not  accept  the  terms  they  prescribe, 
swallow  their  prescription,  however  nauseous, 
disunion  follows!  Shall  1  be  pardoned  for  humbly 
dissenting  from  this  opinion  ?  And  again: 

“  Instinct  tells  us  slaveholders,  that  we  must  have  our 
portion  of  this  continent, — that  institutions  hostile  to  ours 
shall  exist  neither  west  nor  south  of  us.” 

What  is  this  but  an  admission  of  insanity? 
Instinct,  which  governs  man  only  after  reason 
has  deserted  her  throne;  instinct  is  to  Be  the  sole 

fuide  of  their  threatened  action  in  the  premises  ! 

allude  to  this  speech,  [Mr.  Meade’s,]  because  the 
same  sentiments,  not  the  tenth  of  which  can  I  take 
time  to  quote,  were  repeated  with  still  stronger 
emphasis  upon  this  floor.  And  I  am  sorry  to  say 
they  were  echoed  by  others  upon  this  side  of  the 
House;  while  from  that  (Whig)  side  we  had,  by 
way  of  interlude  in  this  comedy  of  “Reason  run 


I 

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t 


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1 


mad,”  or  the  “Devil  to  pay  among  the  Negroes,” 
an  improvement  upon  the  old  “Hark,  from  the 
Toombs  a  doleful  sound.”  And  the  whole  per¬ 
formance  was  cheered  and  encored  by  Representa¬ 
tives  whose  duty  it  was  to  have  indignantly 
frowned  it  down  as  threatening  the  best  interests 
and  integrity  of  the  Union  they  were  sent  here  to 
cherish  and  protect.  If  such  conduct  is  not  mad¬ 
ness,  what  is  it?  Treason?  It  can  scarcely  be, 
for  treason  stalks  abroad  and  whispers  it  designs 
only  under  cover  of  the  night;  and  these  declara¬ 
tions  were  made  at  noonday.  They  were  pro¬ 
claimed  to  the  Nation  here,  in  the  Nation’s 
Capiiol.  If  not  madness  then,  what  is  it  ?  It  was 
said  (as  was  alluded  to  by  my  honorable  friend 
from  Tennessee,  upon  my  left,  Mr.  Stanton)  by 
a  former  chief,  I  think,  of  French  police,  that  a 
certain  transaction  was  worse  than  a  crime — it  was 
a  blunder;  clearly  intending  to  convey  the  infer¬ 
ence  that  the  act  evinced  such  narrowed  views, 
such  imbecile  judgment  upon  the  part  of  the 
actors,  as  subjected  them  to  pity,  not  punishment. 
And  thus  of  the  conduct  under  consideration.  If 
not  madness,  it  is  not  treason — a  crime — it  is  a 
blunder,  it  is  folly.  And  what  more  foolish  than 
the  threatened  application  of  a  remedy  for  any 
evil,  real  or  imaginary,  which  remedy  must  from 
its  very  nature  be  productive  of  infinitely  more 
mischief  than  the  evil  itself?  What  more  foolish 
than  a  threat  of  disunion  under  any  contingency 
which  can  possibly  arise  from  the  renewed  appli¬ 
cation  of  a  principle  which  has  hitherto  operated  so 
beneficially?  If  the  threat  has  been  made  with 
the  view  of  intimidating  the  North,  whatever  its 
temporary  effect  may  be  here,  its  folly  will  be 
apparent  in  its  utter  failure  to  swerve  the  northern 
constituency  one  iota  from  the  course  they  esteem 
right.  If  it  was  made  with  the  view  of  strength¬ 
ening  the  South,  its  effect  has  been  the  reverse,  by 
lessening  that  respect  for  southern  gentlemen 
making  it  to  which  otherwise  they  would  have 
been  entitled;  and,  furthermore,  by  destroying  all 
confidence  in  their  patriotism,  a  confidence  to 
which  much  could  have  been  yielded. 

It  was  said  early  in  the  session  by  a  gentleman 
from  Georgia,  [Mr.  Stephens,] — though  1  am 
happy  to  say  thegentleman  uttered  sentiments  of  a 
differentcharactei  a  few  dayssince,  whilediscussing 
the  joint  resolution  for  the  purchase  of  the  manu- 
script'fqf  Washington’s  Farewell  Address — but  it 
was  said  by  him  early  in  the  session,  and  much 
the  same  thing  was  repeated  recently  by  a  gentle¬ 
man  from  North  Carolina,  [Vlr.  Clingman,]  that 
we  of  the  North  “  sin"  pseans”  to  the  Union  for 
its  preservation.  Gra.  .d  !  But  they  sing  them  tc 
the  South  to  justify  disunion.  Who  are  the  most 
national?  Or,  to  make  the  question  one  of  music, 
not  men,  w*  ich  is  the  most  patriotic,  “  Hail  Co¬ 
lumbia,”  or  “  Clar  de  kitchen,  oleVirginny  is  a 
cornin’?  ”  We  are  told  by  a  gentleman  from  the 
South,  [Mr.  Wallace,]  that  we  of  the  North 
shall  be  taught — the  South  “  will  teach  us  the 
sincerity  of  their  threats,  and  their  ability  to  ac¬ 
complish  them.”  Hah!  the  Congressional  “  schol- 
master  is  aboad!”  We  will  receive  their  teach¬ 
ings  with  all  becoming  humility;  but  as  the 
necessity  for  a  few  lessons  may  be  reciprocal  per¬ 
haps,  we  shall  be  permitted  to  mount  the  rostrum, 
ferule  in  hand,  and  for  a  brief  period  enact  the 
pedagogue.  One  of  the  first  lessons  ^ve  would 
inculcate,  is  their  inability  to  successfully  accom- 


3 


plish  their  disunion  threat.  In  essaying  it,  they 
will  injure  the  North,  I  grant  you,  but  they  will 
ruin  themselves.  It  is  true,  we  were  amused  a 
few  days  since  by  a  gentleman  from  North  Caro¬ 
lina,  [Mr.  Cling.man,]  with  an  estimate  of  the  re¬ 
ceipts  and  expenditm  es  r  f  the  prospective  kingdom 
of  Buncombe,  to  the  throne  of  which  that  gentle¬ 
man  may  very  probably  be  heir  apparent.  But 
in  that  estimate  did  he  include  the  expense  of  the 
large  standing  army  which  would  be  necessary 
to  insure  the  citizens  of  his  kingdom  that  is  to 
be  against  servile  insurrection?  The  gentleman 
has  but  to  attempt  the  disunion  threatened  by 
him,  to  learn  the  utter  futility  of  the  attempt. 
He  would  find  himself  surrounded  mostly  by  ter 
ritory  not  recognizing  slavery.  With  the  free 
States  of  the  North,  once  his  brethren,  but  then 
have  become  his  enemies,  hating  his  “  peculiar 
institution”  as  the  cause  of  the  attempted  dis¬ 
memberment  of  our  glorious  Republic;  with  a 
neighboring  republic  on  the  southwest,  by  which 
bhxks  are  recognized  as  citizens;  with  a  vast  negro 
population  in  his  own  midst,  ignorant  and  debased, 
therefore  cruel  and  bloodthirsty,  whenever  insti¬ 
gated  to  strike  by  an  opportunity  for  a  successful 
blow;  with  the  public  opinion  of  the  entire  civil¬ 
ized  world  so  strongly  against  him,  that  no  nation 
would  dare  attempt  to  aid  him  in  defending  and 
propagating  his  institution, — how  long  would  it  be 
ere  he  would  be  knocking  at  the  door  of  the  north¬ 
ern  republic  for  readmission?  And  has  he  no  fear 
that  the  principles  of  the  same  ordinance  would 
then  be  brought  to  bear  upon  him,  the  application 
of  which  to  new  territories  he  now  so  strenuously 
resists ? 

The  North  is  charged  with  an  intention  of  vio¬ 
lating  the  Constitution  in  legislating  upon  this 
subject  of  slavery.  The  Constitution  guaranties 
rights  in  common  to  all  the  States,  and  certain 
special  rights  to  the  slaveholding  States.  Yet, 
though  special,  they  are  constitutional  rights,  and 
as  such,  should  be  recognized  and  protected  in  the 
States  where  they  exist.  And  the  great  mass  of 
the  northern  constituency  have  as  little  idea  of  in¬ 
terfering  with  those  rights,  as  of  permitting  inter¬ 
ference  with  their  own.  There  are  exceptions  to 
this — there  are,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  northern  dis- 
unionists.  But  they  are  few  in  number  and  of 
limited  influence.  Can  the  same  be  said  of  the 
southern?  The  latter  arrive  at  the  same  conclu¬ 
sion  with  the  former  from  adverse  premises — 
reach  the  same  goal  by  a  different  road.  In  aid¬ 
ing  the  accomplishment  of  the  ultimate  design 
of'the  northern  disunionists — the  men  they  were 
wont  the  most  contemptuously  to  denounce — 
the  South  add  nothing  to  their  own  strength. 
They  do  but  divide  the  responsibility  of  an  odious 
cause.  The  pseudo-philanthropy  of  a  few  of 
these  disunionists  of  the  North — the  Garrisons  i 
and  Abby  Folsoms — a  philanthropy  manifesting 
itself  by  an  officious  intermeddling  with  the  prop¬ 
erty  rights  of  the  South,  instigating  the  escape  of 
the  slave,  while  it  turns  its  back  upon  the  free 
negro,  leaving  him  to  steal  or  starve — a  philan¬ 
thropy  which,  instead  of  expending  its  pecuniary 
means  as  it  legally  might  in  ministering  to  the 
wants  of  the  black  already  five,  or  sending  him 
to  the  country  of  his  origin,  where  he  could  attain  1 
the  dignity  of  a  citizen, — invests  such  means  in  I 
printing  incendiary  publications  or  hiring  emis-  '! 
varies  to  create  discontent  in  the  slave,  or  increase  !! 


that  already  existing;  this  kind  of  mistaken  phi¬ 
lanthropy,  with  its  attendant  indirect  efforts  at 
disunion,  is  unjustly  charged  to  the  entire  North, 
while  the  South  apparently  seek  to  precipitate  its 
consequences.  The  latter  thus  bravely  aid  the 
efforts  of  the  very  people  whose  sentiments  they 
most  loudly  condemn,  instead  of  uniting  with  the 
conservative  portion  of  the  North  to  grant  that 
which  the  entire  civilized  world  and  their  own 
consciences  tell  them  is  right — the  preservation  of 
freedom  where  freedom  now  exists. 

It  is  manifest  that  if  a  difference  of  opinion 
arises  with  regard  to  any  measure  not  provided  for 
by  the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  the  will  of  the 
majority  must  govern  legislation  had  with  refer¬ 
ence  to  that  measure.  If  the  minority  esteem  such 
legislation  unconstitutional,  the  Constitution  fur¬ 
nishes  the  remedy.  But  that  remedy  contemplates 
neither  force  nor  disunion.  It  is  incompatible 
with  either.  W hy,  then,  will  the  South  create  use¬ 
less  prejudices  against  their  own  cause — a  cause 
which  they  say  is  just — by  a  threatened  resort  to 
either?  1  repeat  it,  sir,  there  is  nothing  in  this 
question  as  presented  justifying  such  threats.  It 
is  not  the  intention  of  the  North  they  shall  be  just¬ 
ified,  for  the  North  intends  asking  only  for  that 
which  is  constitutionally  right  and  cun  be  consti¬ 
tutionally  granted.  And  asking  that,  if  the  ma¬ 
jority  is  with  them,  they  have  firmly  resolved 
their  wishes  shall  be  conceded.  In  presuming 
sucli  intention  of  violating  the  Constitution,  and 
basing  their  threats  upon  the  presumption,  the 
South  is  burnishing  its  armor  and  piepnring  for 
battle  when  there  is  no  foe  in  the  field.  The  war- 
horse  “  saith  among  the  trumpets,  ha!  ha!  and  he 
smelleth  the  battle  afar  off,  the  thunder  of  the  cap¬ 
tains  and  the  shouting.”  But  the  olfactories  of 
Job’s  battle  steed  were  obtuse  compared  wihtthose 
ofsome  of  our  southern  friends.  The  latter  “smell¬ 
eth  the  battle”  from  so  far  that  the  eye  of  man 
Iooketh  not  beyond,  yet  the  battle-array  is  not  vis¬ 
ible.  “  They  have  optics  keen  who  see  things  not 
to  he  seen.” 

My  quotations  are  from  memory.  If  they  are 
rrot  verbatim,  some  of  the  teachers  whose  services 
were  volunteered  early  in  the  session  can  correct 
them  !  For  much  of  the  feeling  evinced  by  the 
North  upon  this  subject,  the  South  is  chargeable. 
The  latter  complain  of  the  spread  of  abolition  sen¬ 
timent.  Sir,  it  can  never  cease  to  spread  while 
supplied  with  such  nourishing  pabulum  as  that  af¬ 
forded  by  the  speech  of  the  gentleman  from  North 
Carolina,  [M r.  Clingman,]  and  others  of  the  same 
caste.  And  if  the  few  northern  disunionists  in¬ 
crease  and  multiply,  the  paternity  of  the  increase  is 
chargeable  to  that  gentleman  and  his  associates. 

An  importance  is  attributed  to  the  discussion  or 
this  question  here,  of  a  character  altogether  dispi  of 
portioned  to  any  which  it  has  yet  attained.  The 
gentleman  from  North  Carolina  was  understood 
to  say,  and  the  same  thing  was  repeated  by  a  gen¬ 
tleman  from  Virginia,  [Mr.  Seddon,]  that  the  dis¬ 
cussion-  of  this  question  here  had  prevented  slave 
emigration  to  California,  and  thereby  deprived  the 
South  of  any  portion  of  that  territory  Are  they 
not  mistaken?  Was  it  not  rather  the  Mexican 
law  under  which  the  citizens  of  that  territory  lived 
—  the  government  tie  facto  which  the  gentleman 
from  Virginia  insists  should  vet  be  in  force  in  the 
absence  of  any  territorial  government  framed  by 
Congress — wus  it  not  that  government  de  Jaclo , 


4 


with  its  Mexican  law  prohibiting:  slavery  >  which 
deterred,  as  it  ever  must  deter  while  in  force,  the 
migration  and  residence  in  the  territory  of  slaves 
as  such  ? 

The  gentleman  from  North  Carolina,  and  those 
acting  with  him,  appear  determined  to  occupy  no 
middle  ground  in  this  matter.  It  is  but  a  few  years 
since  these  gentlemen,  or  at  all  events  the  then 
Representatives  of  the  same  constituency  now  rep¬ 
resented  by  them,  voted,  in  common,  1  grant  you, 
with  many  others  upon  this  floor,  to  censure  a 
member  from  Ohio,  [Mr.  Giddings,]  because  of 
nis  introduction  here  in  the  form  of  certain  resolu¬ 
tions  of  sectional  matter,  alleged  to  be  of  an  ex¬ 
citing  and  inflammatory  character.  Yet  these  gen¬ 
tlemen  now  daily  and  hourly  utter  from  their  desks 
sentiments  far  more  exciting,  far  more  inflamma¬ 
tory,  and  dangerous  to  the  country.  And  the  gen¬ 
tleman  from  North  Carolina  tells  us,  if  we  see 
proper  to  attempt  in  a  peaceable  manner  to  free 
ourselves  from  the  presence  of  any  who,  like  him¬ 
self,  may  declare  their  intention  to  delay,  to  pre¬ 
vent  legislation,  that  weapons  shall  be  brought  to 
their  aid,  probably  the  knife  and  the  pistol,  to 
sweep  from  this  floor  so  many  that  no  quorum  will 
be  left  for  the  transaction  of  business!  Shame! 
What  is  to  be  thought  of  theuttererof  such  a  sen¬ 
timent — a  sentiment  sadly,  sadly  out  of  place  in  a 
legislative  hall  ? 

The  gentleman  from  North  Carolina,  and  hisc.o 
workers,  appear  determined  not  only  to  occupy  no 
middle  ground  themselves — they  are  equally  de¬ 
termined  to  permit  none  others  to  do  so.  If  a  man 
is  not  for  them,  their  uncalled-for  denunciations 
drive  him  to  assume  a  stand  against  them.  Their 
sensitiveness  upon  this  subject  is  truly  ludicrous — 
to  others,  though  doubtless  painful  to  themselves. 
They  see  threatened  destruction  to  their  institu¬ 
tion  in  every  newspaper  paragraph  which  does  not 
call  it  divine;  a  foe  in  every  man  who  presumes  to 
question  the  right  or  justice  of  any  of  their  assump¬ 
tions.  The  threatened  destruction  they  propose  to 
anticipate  by  destroying  themselves,  committing 
national  suicide.  The  ideal  foe  they  charge  lance 
in  hand  a  la  mode  Don  Quixote,  without  waiting 
to  ascertain  whether  it  be  a  knight  or  windmill — 
without  even  pausing  to  know  whether  it  be  a  man 
or  woman.  If  they  would  pause,  if  they  would 
but  wait  to  examine  the  disunion  petitions  laid  be¬ 
fore  certain  northern  Legislatures,  they  would  find 
many  of  the  signers  to  be  females.  Do  they  de¬ 
sign  making  war  upon  these?  Such  would  appear 
to  be  the  intention  of  the  gentleman  from  North 
Carolina,  for  it  wih  be  remembered  he  retailed  cer¬ 
tain  opinions  alleged  to  be  entertained  by  north¬ 
ern  ladies  of  southern  gentleman.  Do  those  al¬ 
leged  opinions  shadow  forth  the  result  of  that 
gentleman’s  traveled  experience  in  the  North,  of 
which  he  told  us?  Has  he  bent  the  knee  in  some 
northern  court  of  Cupid?  Has  he  unsuccessfully 
wooed  to  winsome  northern  belle  ?  If  so,  the  cause 
of  the  outpourings  of  his  wrath  upon  the  North 
can  be  well  understood  and  duly  appreciated. 

I  said,  the  sensitiveness  of  some  southern  gen¬ 
tlemen  was  truly  ludic.  ous.  Here,  sir,  is  evidence 
of  the  facility  with  which  they  can  create  imagi¬ 
nary  danger,  and  their  promptitude  in  repelling  it 
written  during  our  struggle  to  elect  a  Speaker: 

City  of  Washing  i  on,  December  14.  1849. 

Sir:  We,  the  represi  nratives  froi^  the 
in  tiie  Congress  of  the  United  States,  feet  it  to  be  our 


to  inform  you  that  in  our  judgment  the  affairs  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment  have  reached  a  ci  i.-is  of  no  ordinary  moment. 

Tire  House  of  Representatives  lias  up  to  this  hour  found 
it  impossible  to  effect  an  organization,  and  consequently  the 
whole  action  of  the  Government,  so  far  as  it  depends  upon 
the  legislation  of  Congress,  is  arrested. 

********** 

We  feel  it  to  he  our  duty,  however,  iri  view  of  the  threat- 
erdng  aspect  which  political  affairs  now  wear,  to  put  you  in 
possession  of  thesofaets. 

We  think  we  are  well  acquainted  with  the  spirit  of  the 
people  of  Alabama,  and  we  believe  that  it  is  their  fixed  pur¬ 
pose  never  to  submit  to  the  threatened  encroachment  on 
their  rights;  that  they  will  never  submit  to  any  act  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States  which  excludes  slavery 
from  the  territory  acquired  from  Mexico,  and  which  is  the 
property  of  the  States  of  this  Union;  that  they  will  never 
submit  to  any  act  of  the  Government  aboli-hing  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  and  that  they  will  demand  that  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitutiifn  in  regard  to  their  property 
shall  be  faithfully  observed.  We  trust  that  no  further  ag¬ 
gression  will  be  made  upon  the  rights  of  i he  slaveholding 
States  ;  but  we  regard  the  existing  state  of  affairs  as  so  seri¬ 
ous  that  we  cannot  forbear  making  this  communication  to 
you. 

As  the  Legislature  of  our  State  is  now  in  session,  you  may 
think  it  proper  to  communicate  to  them  your  views  oNthe 
duty  of  the  State  in  the  present  crisis. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be,  verv  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servants,  HENRY  W.  HILLIARD, 

J ERE.  CLEMENS, 

DAVID  HUBBARD, 

S.  W.  INGE, 

SAMPSON  W.  HARRIS, 

W.  J.  ALSTON, 

F.  W.  BOWDON. 

To  His  Excellency  H.  W.  Collier, 

Governor  of  the  State  of  Alabama. 

Then  follows  a  message  elicited  from  the  Gov¬ 
ernor  to  the  Legislature: 

Executive  Department, 
Montgomery,  December  22,  1849. 

To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rejn  esentativet : 

I  take  the  earliest  opportunity  to  transmit  to  the  General 
Assembly  copies  of  a  communication  juA  received  from 
six  of  the  R>  presentatives  and  the  only  Senator  from  Ala¬ 
bama  now  at  Washington. 

My  views  upon  the  delicate  subject  to  which  it  refers  are 
well  known  to  you, and  need  not  he  here  repeated. 

The  time  for  decided  action  has  arrived,  and  I  recom¬ 
mend  to  the  General  Assembly  to  announce  the  ultimatum 
of  Alabama  upon  the  great  question  which  now  convulses 
the  Union.  It  is  due  to  ourselves,  as  well  as  to  the  mi  mory 
of  our  fathers,  that  we  should  take  the  ground  which  self- 
respect,  honor,  and  constitutional  equality  demand.  Our 
position  once  taken,  there  can  be  no  footsteps  backward. 

H.  W.  COLLIER. 

Ultimatum  of  Alabama!  “Ye  gods  and  little 
fishes,”  hear  and  tremble!  And  this  preface  to 
disunion  is  followed,  first  by  terrible  resolves  on 
the  part  of  the  Legislature,  and  then  by  another 
chapter,  an  epilogue,  in  the  form  of  a  written 
stump  speech  from  one  of  the  Representatives  to  a 
portion  of  the  constituency  of  Alabama,  [Mr.  Hub- 
bar  d ’s  letter] — a  document  of  which  1  will  say 
naught  else  than  that  it  contains  sentiments  which 
can  add  nothing1  to  any  character  for  political  saga¬ 
city  hitherto  acquired  by  its  author. 

What,  Mr.  Chairman,  had  the  Governor  or  the 
Legislature  of  Alabama  to  do  with  our  delay  in 
the  election  of  a  Speaker?  We  ultimately  suc¬ 
ceeded  without  their  aid  !  Aye,  even  before  their 
roar  reached  here,  although  they  “  roared  you  as 
gently  as  a  sucking  dove,”  or  perhaps',  as  they 
imagined,  as  terrific,  as  the  desert  king,  yet  before 
that  roar  reached  here  to  intimidate  ns  into  action 
in  consonance  with  their  views,  we  had  succeeded 
in  at  least  a  partial  organization  of  tins  House;  and, 
under  similar  circumstances,  would  very  possibly 


Siate  of  Alabama 
duty 


succeed  again,  alike  without  their  assistance. 
These  letters  are  simply  ridiculous;  more  especial- 


5 


Iy  when  taken  in  connection  with  certain  antece¬ 
dents. 

One  of  the  signers  [Mr.  Inge]  of  this  letter  to 
the  Governor  of  Alabama  was  the  very  first  man 
within  my  knowledge,  on  this  side  of  the  House, 
during  this  session,  to  agitate  the  exciting  subject 
to  which  the  letter  refers — the  slavery  question,  ; 
And  another  gentleman,  [Mr.  Hilliard,]  whose 
name  figures  here,  was  (unless  <1  am  greatly 
mistaken,  and  if  1  am  he  can  easily  correct  the 
mistake)  among  the  first  upon  that  (Whig)  side. 
And  this  they  did  in  no  very  gentle  or  persuasive 
terms,  during  certain  meetings  preliminary  to  our 
organization.  They  first  fire  the  building,  then 
vociferously  give  the  alarm,  and  charge  the  incen¬ 
diarism  to  others  !  Perhaps  I  shall  be  pardoned 
for  making  a  suggestion  for  their  benefit.  I  trust 
it  will  be  received  in  a  friendly  spirit,  for  it  is  de-  j 
signed  in  none  other.  Would  it  not  be  advisable 
for  them  to  transcribe  into  their  prayer  books  a 
few  lines  from  the  “  Hieland  Bard:’’ 

“O!  wad  some  power  thegiftie  gie  us, 

To  see  ourselves  as  ithers  see  us  ! 

’Twad  frae  monie  a  blunder  free  us, 

And  foolish  notion  !” 

Aye,  foolish  indeed  ! 

Why  will  not  gentlemen  from  the  sunny  side  of 
Mason  and  Dixon’s  line  meet  this  question  as 
men  confident  of  the  justice  of  their  cause,  con¬ 
scious  of  integrity  of  purpose,  meet  any  question, 
the  meeting  of  which  they  find  inevitable,  coolly, 
calmly  ?  They  have  the  ability  so  to  do.  Of 
this  there  can  be  no  doubt.  We  have  tangible 
evidence  of  their  own  beluf  at  least  in  their  owm  i 
ability;  albeit  in  affording  that  evidence  they  seem 
to  have  forgotten  that 

“  Tu  peace  there  is  nothing  so  becoming  a  man 
As  modest  stillness  and  humility.” 

But  for  the  evidence.  Here  it  is  : 

“Though  we  have  been  in  a  numerical  minority  in  the 
Union  for  fifty  years,  yet  during  the  greater  part  of  that 
period  we  have  managed  to  control  the  destinies  of  this 
nation.” — Mr.  Meade’s  speech. page  3 d. 

That’s  a  fact.  But  one  cannot  much  admire  the 
modesty  manifested  in  proclaiming  it.  But  let  us  j 
proceed  with  the  quotation  : 

“  Whether  on  the  battle-field  or  in  council,  the  sons  of 
the  South  have  ever  taken  the  lead,  and  the  records  of  the 
nation  afford  ample  testimony  of  their  superior  energy  and 
genius ;  for  to  w  hat  else  can  be  attributed  their  superior  in¬ 
fluence  in  the  nation,  which  to  this  day  is  unquestionably  1 
felt,  and,  though  reluctantly,  must  be  acknowledged  ?” 

Well,  I  have  heard  of  another  quality  some¬ 
times  obtaining  “  influence” — namely,  impudence.  \ 
But  I  would  by  no  means  intimate  that  our  south¬ 
ern  friends  have  an  undue  share  of  that! 

Here  is  evidence  derived  from  another  source,  of 
talent  of  a  purely  military  order : 

“It  was  a  southern  general  and  southern  soldiers  who 
breasted  the  British  bayonets  at  New  Orleans,  and  added 
one  of  it'  brightest  chapters  to  the  history  of  the  Republic. 
Southern  blood  has  watered  every  plain  from  the  St.  Law¬ 
rence  to  the  capital  of  the  Aztecs.  Tite  memorable  fields 
of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma  were  won  by  a  south¬ 
ern  general.  It  was  before  the  genius  of  a  southern  leader 
that  the  walls  and  towers  of  Monterey  crumbled  into  dust, 
and  two  southern  regiments,  struggling  side  by  side  in  a 
glorious  rivalry,  snatched  from  the  cannon’s  mouth  the 
palm  of  victory.  In  the  narrow  gorge  of  Angostura,  south¬ 
ern  valor  again  stemmed  the  tide  of  war  and  rolled  back 
the  murderous  chaiges  of  the  foe.  On  the  sands  of  V<  ra 
Crtiz,  another  great  name  which  the  South  lias  given  to 
history  and  renown  added  to  a  fame  already  imperishable, 
and  wrung  from  the  reluctant  nations  of  the  Old  World 
plaudits  which  they  could  not  withhold.  At  Cerio  Gordo 
the  story  of  southern  achievements  was  rewritten  in  blood, 
and  among  the  rocks  and  volcanoes  of  Contreras  the  glo-  !' 


rious  old  Palmetto  State  vindicated  her  right  to  the  title  of 
chivalrous,  and  silenced  forever  the  tongues  of  her  detract¬ 
ors.” — Mr.  Olcmens’s  speech ,  in  Senate,  January  10,  1650. 

And  were  I  disposed  to  continue  quotations, 
equally  modest  and  conciliatory,  from  the  other  end 
of  the  Capitol,  they  would  be  multiplied  ad  infini¬ 
tum. 

They  bear  testimony  to  their  own  ability.  We 
shall  not  gainsay  their  testimony;  we  have  no 
wish  to  rebut  it,  more  especially  by  imitating  the 
example  of  self-glorification  they  have  placed  be¬ 
fore  us!  We  will  give  them  its  full  benefit.  Hav¬ 
ing,  then,  this  transcendent  ability,  why  will  not 
the  South  so  meet  this  question  as  to  do  credit  to 
themselves  and  their  cause:  not  pain  their  politi¬ 
cal  friends  and  rejoice  only  the  hearts  of  the  small 
squad  of  northern  disunionists,  whose  existence  is 
admitted,  but  who  are  known  to  be  powerless  for 
mischief  when  unaided  by  the  South?  Why  this 
excitement — these  threats?  They  do  not  aver  that 
aught  has  yet  been  done  to  justify  the  one  or 
create  the  other.  But  they  are  apprehensive  of 
something — an  undefined  something — the  precise 
what  they  know  not;  and,  therefore,  valiantly  com¬ 
mence  fighting  the  “  shadow”  of  some  “  coming 
event.”  It  would  be  wiser  to  await  what  they 
choose  to  call  aggression,  than  to  invite  that  aggres¬ 
sion  by  threats  of  what  they  will  do  in  the  event 
of  its  being  consummated.  Men  do  not  usually 
much  desire  to  rest  under  the  imputation  of  being 
intimidated  by  a  threat;  and  such  may  conse¬ 
quently  operate  as  an  additional  incentive  to  the 
very  act  it  was  designed  to  prevent.  If  the 
valor  of  southern  gentlemen  upon  this  side  of  the 
House  has  reached  the  flood-mark  and  must  ebb, 
let  its  current  set  against  our  common  enemy  upon 
that  (Whig:)  side.  But  do  their  charges  head  that 
way?  Their  past  acts  must  answer.  Sir,  the 
confession  is  humiliating;  but  as  the  fact  exists,  its 
acknowledgment  cannot  increase  its  capability  for 
mischief.  There  exist  upon  this  side  of  the  House 
— and  the  same  state  of  things  holds  good  upon  that, 
(Whig;)  but  not  being  a  member  of  their  political 
family,  it  becomes  me  not  to  interfere  in  their  do¬ 
mestic  jars;  I  leave  them  to  settle  such  among 
themselves  after  their  own  manner, —  there  exist 
upon  this  side  of  the  House  three  classes  profess¬ 
ing  the  same  general  political  faith — the  Democrats 
proper;  a  few  from  one  section  who,  when  they 
cannot  act  with  the  Democratic  party,  evince  an 
unwillingness  to  go  over  to  the  camp  of  the  ene¬ 
my;  and  a  few  from  another  section  who  evince 
no  such  unwillingness,  but  who,  on  the  contrary, 
manifest  an  inclination  to  serve  the  Whigs  when¬ 
ever  such  service  is  to  inure  to  the  exclusive  ben¬ 
efit  of  their  section.  And  such  service  has  been 
rendered  at  a  time  when  the  united  efforts  of  all 
upon  this  side  of  the  House  were  required  to  suc¬ 
cessfully  compete  wi’h  our  common  political  ene¬ 
my  upon  that  side.  For  that  enemy  has  occasion¬ 
ally  presented  an  unbroken  front,  held  together  by 
the  only  cohesive  power  known  to  them — the 
spoils. 

Thi3  very  slavery  question  they  have  made  sub¬ 
servient  to  the  acquisition  of  those  sooils;  they 
have  used  it  as  a  scaling-ladder  to  mount  into  hig^ 
places  and  seize  those  spoils.  They  converted  their 
Presidential  candidate  into  a  political  Janus,  with 
a  high-priest  in  Louisiana  and  one  in  Georgia, 
pointing  to  and  interpreting  the  expression  of  the 
southern  face;  while  the  northern  one  had  its 


6 


priestly  oracles  in  Connecticut  and  Ohio,  with  a 
“lithping”  echo  in  Indiana, — all  of  them  proclaim 
ing  their  candidate  in  favor  of  that  parti:ular 
view  of  this  question  most  popular  in  their  re¬ 
spective  latitudes;  and  in  proof  that  he  was  so, 
quoting  letters  never  exhibited,  and  it  is  hoped 
for  the  credit  of  the  Executive  never  written. 
Thus  did  political  deception  find  a  sufficiency  of 
honest  but  deceived  dupes  to  acquire  power.  And 
being  upon  that  (Whig)  side  of  the  House  all 
particeps  criminis,  will  it  be  matter  of  surprise  if 
all  are  found  endeavoring  to  prevent  an  inquiry 
into  the  extent  to  which  the  same  weapons — fraud 
and  misrepresentation  used  by  them  to  acquire 
power — have  been  further  used  to  perpetuate  it,  or 
reward  those  most  actively  instrumental  in  its  ac¬ 
quisition  ?  Or  can  we  wonder  if,  having  committed 
their  candidate  to  all  sides  of  this  question,  all  shall 
now  strive  to  prevent  us  from  placing  him  in  such 
situation  as  shall  compel  him  by  his  own  act  to 
proclaim  to  “  all  the  world’’  and  “  the  rest  of  man¬ 
kind”  what  are  his  real  sentiments  in  relation  to 
it?  or  if  they  shall  seek  to  stifle  inquiry  into 
their  double  interpretation  of  official  dishonesty 
and  incompetency?  If  an  official  was  found  in 
the  free  States  with  too  little  confidence  in  the 
northern^face  of  their  candidate  to  sustain  him  for 
the  Presidency,  forthwith  upon  their  installation 
into  power,  such  official  was  dismissed  as  incom¬ 
petent  or  dishonest.  If  one  was  found  in  the  South 
the  reverse,  with  too  abiding  confidence  in  the 
truthful  expression  of  that  northern  face,  he  too 
was  incompetent  or  dishonest,  and  his  official  head 
was  brought  to  the  block. 

Thus,  Mr.  Chairman,  has  this  sectional  ques¬ 
tion  been  everywhere  made  subservient  to  their 
party  pu  rposes — made  to  pander  to  their  lust  for 
power  and  plunder.  In  one  section  they  vied  with 
the  Free-Soil  party  in  condemning  slavery  and 
slaveholders;  while,  in  the  opposite  section,  they 
denounced  those  same  Free  Soilers  as  men  holding 
sentiments  destructive  to  the  South  arid  dangerous 
to  the  country;  and  in  both  sections,  for  the  same 
purpose,  the  election  of  a  man  to  the  Presidency, 
of  whose  prospective  action  upon  this  question 
both  were  equally  ignorant  and  certainly  equally 
regardless,  provided  they  could  but  make  him  the 
instrument  for  ministering  to  their  sordid  ambi¬ 
tion. 

Sir,  I  desire  to  see  the  denouement  of  this  game 
of  deception,  hitherto  so  successfully  played  by  our 
political  opponents.  The  passage  of  a  territorial 
bill  containing  the  principles  of  the  “  ordinance  of 
1787,”  or,  if  you  choose  so  to  call  it,  the  Wilmot 
proviso,  and  the  return  of  such  bill  to  this  House 
with  either  the  signature  or  veto  of  the  Executive, 
will  force  the  two  sections  of  the  party  upon  that 
side  of  the  House,  in  their  anxiety  to  justify  them¬ 
selves  before  their  respective  constituency  for  their 
support  of  a  man  whose  act  must  then  have  falsi¬ 
fied  pledges  made  for  him  by  one  of  them,  will 
force  them  into  a  war  of  mutual  crimination  and 
recrimination — a  war,  the  consummation  of  which 
most  devoutly  to  be  wished,  has  had  its  parallel 
only  in  the  redoubtable  Kilkenny  feline  combat. 
The  exposition  consequent  upon  such  war,  of  the 
deception  practised  by  our  political  opponents 
pending  the  recent  Presidential  election,  and  the 
juggling  machinery  they  broughtto  bear  upon  that 
election  to  secure  to  themselves  a  successful  issue, 
will  be  well  worth  some  sacrifice  of  interest  and 


feeling  to  any  portion  of  the  country.  By  it  the 
entire  country,  from  the  lakes  to  the  gulf,  from 
ocean  to  ocean,  will  be  enabled  to  perceive  who 
have  been  its  real  friends — which  party  entertains 
a  patriotism,  in  the  language  of  him  whose  seat 
you,  jMr.  Chairman,  now  occupy,  as  comprehen¬ 
sive  as  our  common  country,  and  by  which  party 
patriotism  has  been  made  to  mean  offices  for  them¬ 
selves  first,  their  country’s  good  last. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  takdb  no  note  of  time 
during  my  remarks,  but  my  further  occupancy  of 
the  floor  must  doubtless  be  brief.  I  cannot,  how¬ 
ever,  in  justice  to  my  own  feelings,  take  my  seat 
without  noticing,  if  time  permits,  a  remark  made 
by  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  [Mr.  Seddon,] 
when  he  addressed  the  House  a  few  days  since. 
During  his  closing  eulogy  of  General  Taylor’s 
military  character,  in  speaking  of  the  battle  of 
Buena  Vista,  he  said  that  a  brave  or  gallant  north¬ 
ern  regiment  had  broken,  and  the  Mississippians 
came.to  the  rescue.  I  do  not  pretend  to  quote  his 
precise  language,  but  the  sentiment  relative  to  the 
northern  regiment  was  as  I  have  stated.  Sir,  that 
northern  regiment  was  from  my  own  State.  It 
was  a  gallant  regiment!  And,  for  the  justice  con¬ 
ceded  it  by  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  in  that 
one  expressive  word  “gallant,”  I  thank  him. 
As  an  Indianian,  from  my  heart,  I  thank  him. 
It  is  a  justice  not  meted  to  the  regiment  by  all,  for 
there  are  those  who  seek  to  tarnish  its  well-earned 
laurels,  by  basely,  slanderously  charging  it  with 
want  of  courage.  Sir,  the  descendants  of  the  brave 
men  who  fought  at  Tippecanoe  never  can  be  cow¬ 
ards.  It  was  a  gallant  regiment.  It  bore  the  open¬ 
ing  brunt  of  that  battle,  though  opposed  to  a  foe 
so  overwhelmingly  numerous  that  one  well-di¬ 
rected  volley  from  that  foe  was  liable  to  have 
annihilated  the  entire  regiment;  yet  firmly  it  main¬ 
tained  its  ground,  giving  and  receiving  volley  after 
volley,  with  as  little  thought  of  yielding,  as  had 
the  mountain  at  the  base  of  which  it  fought, 
steadily  closing  its  ranks  over  the  dead  and  dying, 
"until  at  the  moment  when,  by  the  subsequent  con¬ 
fession  of  the  commanding  officer  of  the  enemy, 
victory  was  about  to  reward  its  gallantry,  it 
broke,  not  yielding  to  the  force  of  the  enemy, 
but  obedience  to  an  incompetent  or  panic-stricken 
officer.  The  brave  Brigade  General  of  the  regi¬ 
ment,  who  knew  its  members  as  citizens  and 
soldiers,  and  knew  they  had  no  thought  but  of 
how  most  gallantly  to  acquit  themselves,  passed 
the  order  for  the  regiment  to  advance  against 
the  dense  mass  of  foe  in  its  front.  This  order, 
a  colonel,  who  for  his  own  and  the  reputa¬ 
tion  of  the  State  under  whose  commission  he 
acted  had  better  have  graced  a  scullion’s  station 
than  the  one  he  held,  reversed,  by  an  order  to 
cease  firing  and  retreat.  The  regiment  broke,  but 
subsequently  it  mostly  rallied,  and,  in  company 
with  another  no  less  gallant  regiment  from  the 
same  State,  fought  side  by  side  with  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  regiment  in  repelling  Santa  Anna’s  last 
charge.  I  say  not  this  to  detract  one  iota  from 
the  well-earned  reputation  of  the  Mississippi  regi¬ 
ment,  for  a  more  gallant  body  of  men  more  gal¬ 
lantly  led  than  those  Mississippians.  never  trod  a 
battle-field.  I  say  it  injustice  to  the  dead  of  In¬ 
diana’s  brave  volunteers  and  the  slandered  living. 
Yes,  sir,  Indiana  and  Mississippi — the  North  and 
the  .South — tnere  fought  and  fell  in  their  common 
country’s  cause,  under  the  same  stars  and  stripes. 


7 


The  demon  of  discord,  in  the  form  of  sectional 
feeling,  sectional  interest,  reared  not  its  hideous 
head  there.  They  thought  not  of  the  North  or  of 
the  South,  but  of  their  country,  their  whole  coun¬ 
try,  in  whose  cause  they  were  nerved  to  “  do  or  1 


die.”  Heaven  grant  it  may  ever  be  thus  !  For¬ 
ever  palsied  be  the  hand  that  would  pluck  a  star 
from  that  banner  under  which  the  brave  of  all  the 
States  have  met  a  common  foe  upon  many  well- 
fought  fields,  and  found  a  common  grave. 


Printed  at  the  Congressional  Globe  Office. 


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